TAMPA — The man who oversees Raymond James Stadium and three public golf courses stepped down under threat of termination Monday.
Tampa Sports Authority executive director Henry Saavedra tendered his resignation rather than face a vote on his ouster during an emotional meeting. A sharply divided Sports Authority board voted 6-5 to accept the resignation, agreeing to grant Saavedra six months of pay and benefits as severance, at a cost of $171,871.
This spelled the end to a 24-year career at the agency, 12 as its top executive. But it wasn't Saavedra showing emotions Monday. Rather, members of the city of Tampa bloc on the board accused their Hillsborough County colleagues of power-grabbing politics.
Four of the county's five appointees to the Sports Authority board, including Chairman Jim Norman, have leveled a steady stream of complaints Saavedra's way in recent months. They've accused him of him of keeping them in the dark about board matters and undermining their decisions.
City appointee Frank DeBose called the circumstances disgusting. Former City Council member Bob Buckhorn described them as a joke.
Another former City Council member, Mary Alvarez, said she is considering whether to resign from the board. She said she's seen too much micromanaging of the agency by it board.
"I've seen a pattern that someone was out to get Henry," she said. "Now you've succeeded."
City appointee Kalyn Brandewie accused some board members of colluding to force Saavedra out.
"There are certain members of this board who make a mockery of the Sunshine Law," Brandewie said. "You've been building the case. I have watched as the stage has been set for this day."
Mayor Pam Iorio also sent a department director to appeal for Saavedra's job.
County criticisms have come as Hillsborough has sought more say in Sports Authority affairs, from pushing for greater financial oversight to forcing the stadium to hire county paramedics for Tampa Bay Buccaneers games.
Board chairman Vin Marchetti brought the complaints to a head last week in a lengthy memo explaining why he planned to seek Saavedra's termination during Monday's meeting.
Among his beefs:
• Authority members learned of an expensive workplace lawsuit from the woman who filed the case rather than Saavedra.
• Saavedra failed to alert them to the potential for significant losses in its investment pool and failed to cut expenses aggressively enough.
• Contracts and a bid request were mishandled under Saavedra's watch, and that he made unauthorized decisions without seeking board input.
Marchetti noted that he could have prepared a critique list twice as long, and said he raised some of the same general points in the evaluation he prepared of Saavedra this past summer.
"I put a lot of time and effort and thought into preparing this agenda item," Marchetti said. "I like Henry personally. I just don't think he's the right person for the job anymore."
Saavedra spoke little, mainly thanking Marchetti for offering to let him resign from the post where he had been earning $209,622 per year. He deferred questions afterward to an attorney, David Linesch.
Linesch said Saavedra reviewed his options over the weekend and made a decision that was "appropriate and noble" rather than face a vote. Even had he won the vote, he might have lost long-term.
"You're still working with a board that maybe five of them voted against you," he said.
The Sports Authority plans to hire a search firm with hopes of naming Saavedra's replacement before the football season.
Bill Varian can be reached at varian@sptimes.com or (813) 226-3387.
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